A New Adventure Rotating Header Image

Why I Love to Hate My Kindle

Jun 6th, 2009
by jimwenz.
2 comments

More strangers talk to me about my Kindle than anything else I have ever owned. The first question is “How do you like it?” I hate to say I love it because I have always loved paper books and don’t want to see them die. There is something about reading a book on a warm summer day or a cold winter night that just has a spiritual feel to it. You forget time and move into another world. I hate to say I love my Kindle but I do. But before I tell they why I like it I have to explain that it far from perfect.

At this point in my life, the Kindle is a great technology that meets my current need. As some of you know I took a new job at November Learning and have traveled by plane more in the last year than during the first 63 years of my life. When I started, I found that it was a great time to increase my reading since I had a lot of time sitting in airports and on planes. The bad part is that I carried at least two books or more books on every trip. I carried at least one book in my briefcase and one or more in my suitcase. They added a lot of weight to my journey.

What I hate it:

  • It isn’t the same “feel” as reading a book.
  • I can’t see the page numbers. It gives a percentage of the book I have read, but that is misleading do to index, glossary, and acknowledges pages that aren’t included.
  • You can’t loan it to others. I often loan and share my books. But unless I loan you my Kindle, I can’t loan you a book to read.
  • Not all books can be read on a Kindle. (I just bought two “real” books at the bookstore today.)
  • It is expensive. With the small discount on books, I don’t think I will ever make up what I paid for my Kindle.

Why I love it:

  • It is light and easy to carry.
  • Because it is light, it is easy to hold up in bed. Your arms and hands don’t get tired.
  • It is easy on your eyes. The “electronic paper” doesn’t seem to tire my eyes as much as when I read a book.
  • As soon as I buy a book on line it is delivered to my Kindle. I don’t have to wait for it to be shipped. I don’t have to go to the store.
  • I can shop for books using my Kindle. This is nice on the road. When I finish a book I ca just buy a new one. I don’t have to carry an “extra book” or settle for the “best” in the airport bookstore.
  • It looks cool.
  • And I have had conversations with a lot of people who would have never talked to me if I was reading a book.

I’ll continue to tell people I love books. And I’ll continue my secrete love affair with my Kindle.

Posted in: Uncategorized.
Tagged:

What We Might Learn form Best Buy

Apr 21st, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

First, thanks to Clarence Fisher for posting this video on his blog. I think it has a lot to say to us as educators.

My challenge to you is to watch the video and keep and open mind. Don’t think about what technologies they have implemented. Instead think about the goals and what they are trying to achieve.  Ask yourself what parts of this would work in a school setting? Would this change the climate of your school or district? What would be the positives of giving this a try? Does fear of the conversation stop us from implementing this in schools?

I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

Jim

Posted in: Reflections.
Tagged: · · ·

Yodio

Mar 28th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

Trying out Yodio.com

I am trying this instead of Gcast which is going to charge starting April 1, 2009.

Jim

Posted in: Uncategorized.

Scat

Feb 24th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

Scat is the “solid waste, or droppings, of carnivorous animals.”* It is also a book by Carl Hiaasen rated for ages 9-12. When my son was much younger we used to go on a lot of backpacking trips. I think we have slept in a tent in over twenty states. We always use to carry guides to plants, animals, birds, trees, and you guessed it scat. I used to joke with him that when he grew up he was going to become a “scatologist.” That’s why when I saw Carl Hiaasen’s latest book Scat I had to buy it.

I’m glad I did. I had enjoyed his book Hoot and Scatis just as good if not better. Like Hoot it has a story built around an environmental issue. In this case an endangered animal. Hiaasen also brings the Iraq War into the book. Nick is the main character in the book. His father is in Iraq and days go by that Nick doesn’t hear from his dad and is worried that something must be wrong.

The book has some great humor in it including an incident with a Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil. Those of you who had read Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Curtis will remember the Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil from that story. This one is just as good. I think middle school students will like this book. It moves fast, contains mystery, and has some humorous moments. In fact I bet teachers would like it also.

*www.kentuckyawake.org/glossary/

Posted in: Books.
Tagged: · · ·

World Math Day Contest

Feb 3rd, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

Lights, Camera, Action! Are you looking for the ultimate class project? Now your students can show off their creative abilities and talents online in the World Math Day Video Challenge! Move over American Idol! In anticipation of World Math Day on March 4th, students from across the country are competing in this year’s World Math Day Video Challenge. While the contest is open to only U.S. classes, students and teachers from all over the world will have a chance to vote for their favorite videos! The World Math Day Video Challenge is free and open to all U.S. students. Does your class have what it takes?

How to Play 1.  Just record a two to three minute video highlighting how your students are preparing for World Math Day. Be creative. Tell your story with a song, cheer, rap, or narrative. 2.  Then upload your video to www.teachertube.com/worldmathday where it can be voted on by fellow teachers, students, and parents. Teachers can register for free at TeacherTube.com (only registered teachers can upload videos). Rules 1.  Video must be 2 to 3 minutes in length. 2.  Video must demonstrate how your students are preparing for World Math Day. 3.  Video and audio content must be suitable for all audiences. 4.  Video can include puppets, graphics, music, and voice-over. 5.  Only one class per school will be eligible for first prize.

See the Teacher Tube website for more information and prizes

 

Jim.

Posted in: Neat Things On the Web.
Tagged: · ·

Why Do I Twitter My Time Away?

Jan 28th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

I’ve asked myself that question several times. At one point, I even said that Twitter is the biggest waste of time and technology I have ever seen. I’ve talked to several other Twitter users that felt the same way when they started using Twitter. My attitude about Twitter has changed. I now like, enjoy and use Twitter every day. More importantly the value of Twitter in my professional life has changed.

Why do I Twitter my time away? Here are my top ten reasons for using Twitter.

  1. Twitter connects me to my face-to-face and virtual friends.
  2. It builds my network of professionals from around the world.
  3. I stay in touch with people who have attended one or more of my workshops using Twitter.
  4. It connects me to well-known gurus and experts in my field that I would never get a chance to talk to or visit with on a regular basis. These are two gurus I follow: Guy Kawasaki, David Weinberger and many others.
  5. I maintain contact with my friends and learn the little things that are going on in their lives through our short comments.
  6. Everyday I have up to two hundred and eighty two people exploring the web and telling me all of the great resources they find. They link to tools, great blog postings, news articles, resources and all types of fine gems.
  7. Also, they make me laugh. This was shared on Twitter yesterday: Always check your child’s Work
  8. My friends/followers answer questions when I ask them.
  9. Twitter allows me to share my thoughts and ideas quickly and without a lot of efforts.
  10. Most importantly, my “friends” on Twitter share what they know and they care about others.

In reality, the last item is why I use Twitter.

My question for  you is: “Why don’t you Twitter your time away?”

Jim

(Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jimwenz)

Posted in: Neat Things On the Web, Reflections.
Tagged: · ·

Maybe I’m the Slow Kid

Jan 26th, 2009
by jimwenz.
8 comments

On the CAST web site they introduce Differentiated Instruction by stating:

Not all students are alike. Based on this knowledge, differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning so that students have multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas.

Teachers some times think they are being asked to “water” down the curriculum and that differentiated instruction is for the special education or slower students in the class. It is really for everyone. The recent cold weather brought me to a great example of differentiated instruction on a personal level. When I want to know the weather forecast for my city I always use the National Weather Service (NOAA) web site (www.weather.gov).

During may last visit to the site, I thought this is a great way to look at differentiated instruction. People like different representations of the weather. You may like one or more of the following four or more ways the weather is represented on the weather.gov site.

Method One:

Images and brief text:

weather-1

This is a pretty typical way the weather is represented in the newspaper and on popular weather websites. It gives you a nice glance at the five day forecast.

Method Two:

More days, but all text.

weather-2

Notice that you get a little more detail. It takes a little longer to read the forecast than to look at the images.

Method Three:

The big picture using radar and Satellite Images.

weather-3A bigger picture and more complicated. You have regional radar and wide satellite images and if you know weather patterns or watch the radar loop, you can see the movement of storms.

Method Four:

This is the forecast I use. It makes the most sense to me. You can find it under “Additional Forecast and Information” the third listing on the left, Hourly Weather Graph.

weather-4

You will get these two graphs and five more. The two graphs shown here show an hour by hour view of the temperature, wind chill, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust. The other five graphs show more data. I like it because I can view the change in the forecast over time.

How does this relate to differentiated instruction? If you read through this long-winded (pun intended) post, you most likely thought of the method you like best. You picked the one that gave you the information you needed to know and a way you can grasp what the weather forecast is for the next few days.

I happen to like Method Four. Then again, maybe I am just the slow kid in the class. Wouldn’t it be great if we took the power of technology to help represent information in different ways for different students? Instruction using audio, video, text, animations, pictures, or a combination of all of them. We don’t need to create all the content. Some is created and if we learn to share we can all create part of it.

Jim

PS Special thanks to Brian Montgomery from the National Weather Service for teaching me more about weather than any science teacher I ever had in school.

Posted in: Neat Things On the Web, Reflections.
Tagged: · · ·

Transparency and Change

Jan 24th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

President Obama’s first day in office has been one of change and transparency.
The Whitehouse web site that was completely reformatted the day Obama took office promises communication, transparency, and participation. School administrators should look closely at the new Whitehouse site to see how they could change their districts web presence to include those three elements. The web site is great and holds a lot of promise. President Obama is also posting his weekly talks to YouTube.com. This is a major change from the Saturday radio broadcasts used by other Presidents.

We can use President Obama’s strategies in education to bring about change and to make what we do more transparent to our parents and community. We have the technology. We have the skills. We have all we need to change how we communicate. We need the same sense of urgency that the economic crisis has brought to the White House. It will take leadership by our administrators and a commitment from your staff, but it can be done and it won’t cost money. As they say in the Nike ads “Just do It!”

Where do you start?

  • Set up an administrative blog with all the central administrators as authors. Post all news items and events to the blog. Be informal and avoid jargon. The blog is a place to bring people into your school. Make them feel welcome not ignorant.
  • Use more than text. Include audio, videos and images whenever you can. They are more interesting than plain text. Learn how to create “podcasts” that can be attached to your blog or featured on iTunes.
  • Keep your post short. The Japanese have a philosophy that less is more. That is true with communication also. Tell one story or make one point per post. You can always write about another idea or event the next day. By keeping the post short, it won’t seem like a large task to add something new.
  • Involve students. Parents attend school events that feature their children. Post pictures of students who earn awards, do community service, or participate in great classroom projects. One superintendent featured videos of him being interviewed by students.
  • Use your traditional communication tools to advertise your blog. After a year, decide what “old ways” you can give abandon.
  • Model how you want your principals and teachers to use technology.

Posted in: Reflections.
Tagged: · · · · ·

Lit2Go: Audio books for the Classroom

Jan 18th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

Lit2Go is an excellent collection of free audio books for education. The collection is sorted by grades ranging from Kindergarten to twelfth grade. It also has a smaller collection of audio books in Spanish. The books range to simple nursery rhymes to non-fiction recordings on mathematics, history, and other topics. It is a great place to start your school collection of audio books and files. The nice thing is that it is free!

You can access these audio files via the Lit2Go website or using iTunes. There are advantages to both methods.

1. iTunes: Open iTunes and go to the iTunes. Then use the search box in the upper right hand corner and search for Lit2Go. You will get two items as a result of your search. Click on Lit2Go: Audio Files for K-12. The advantage of using iTunes is that you can easily organize your Lit2Go file into Playlist for exporting to CD’s or to iPods that your students can use in school and on iPods that can be checked out from the library. (iTunes is a free download for Windows or Macintosh Computers.

2. Lit2Go website: The website has a very nice search form for finding what you want. You can search using any one or more of the following: Titles, Authors, Keywords or Reading Level. The advantage of the web site is that you can also download a written version of the story if you want your students to follow along as they listen to the story.

I would use iTunes to find the stories I wanted to use with my class and then go to the web site to find the written story if I wanted a copy of the story.

Lit2Go is a great way to provide students with stories and good literature to listen to and read. Most homes have CD players or MP3 players so they can use these files at home. Parents can listen and read with their children to extend reading practice beyond the classroom.

In the upper grades, using MP3 players is a good way to introduce new authors to students. Also, some students say they get teased if they are reading on the bus on the way home. They don’t get teased if they have earphones in their ears.

Sample Kindergarten Nursery Rhyme.

MP3 A Diller a Dollar

PDF A Diller a Dollar

Hope you can find a use for this resource,

Jim

Posted in: Read It, Write It, Say It.
Tagged: · · ·

The Networked Student

Jan 15th, 2009
by jimwenz.
No comments yet

I really enjoyed this student-created video. I thought I should share it with you. As I watched the video, I couldn’t help thinking that I would love my child to have this teacher. The video illustrates what the outcome might be if we taught students how to use the network as a place to learn. I think it shows some of the possibilities of the tools we all talk about using in class.

Let me know what you thought about this as you watched the video. Are there other videos you think I should watch?

Have your students create “The __________ Student”. You fill in the technology; blogging, podcasting, storytelling, movie making, or your idea.

Jim

Posted in: Uncategorized.
Tagged: · · ·

← Earlier Posts